Electrical condenser and method of making the same.



No. 850,166. PATENTED APR.1-6, 1907.

R. 0. LANPHIER. ELECTRICAL CONDENSER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

APPLIUATIDN FILED DBO. 13,1905.

ROBERT C. LANPHIER, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO SANGAMO ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF ILLINOIS.

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ELECTRICAL CONDENSER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT C. LANPHIER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Sangamon and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Electrical Oon densers and Methods of Makin the Same, of which the following is a spec' cation, reference being had to the accompanying drawmgs.

My invention relates to an improved electrical condenser and to the method or process of manufacturing the same.

Condensers have been known and used for electrical urposes for many years and have been built in various forms. The bestknown forms of condensers are of two kinds first, condensers consistin of alternating sheets or plates of mica an tin-foil or other thin metallic conductor, and, second, condensers consisting of some dielectric, such as paper treated with parafiin and tin-foil. It

as also been customary to construct condensers commerciall by using lon strips or ribbons of paper an tin-foil wcun or rolled together tightly upon a core, thus producin a condenser of suitable capacity and at smafi expense. In actual practice there are a number of objections to these condensers,

which are well known and to avoid which a number of e edients and devices have been resorted to without, I believe, full success.

-manufacture of the condenser,

It is the object of my invention to produce a new and improved condenser by a new and im roved method which will obviate these culties and will enable the manufacture of a condenser having almost equal capacity for a given area with the best mica condensers and-of practicall as high insulation and yet of low cost and 0 easy manufacture.

To this end my new and improved method consists, broadly, inimmersin a condenser which has been formed or buill; up of alternating layers of tin-foil or a similar thin conductor and of an untr'eaded dielectric in a bath of sulfur heated to a temperature ofabout 300 or to the temperature at which sulfur becomes 1 fluid, and preferably under I As no special form of appar" tus is necesahod and the I have illussary for the producing of my I! Specification of Letters Patent Anplication filed December 13,1905. Serial No. 291,660.

body.

Patented April 16, 1907.

trated my condenser in the drawings in order that its structure may be readily understood.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of my condenser in its casing. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail, being a vertical section through a portion of the condenser in order to show the alternate layers of paper, the sulfur with which the condenser 1s impregnated, and the tin-foil: Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail, being a cross-section of a portion of the condenser.-

12 indicates the core upon which the condenser is wound.

-Referring particularly to Figs. 4 and 5, 13 indicates the layers of paper. 14 indicates the sulfur after the condenser has been impre ated with the sulfur between the layers 0 paper and tin-foil, and 15 indi-- cates the layers of tin-foil.

Referring toFigs. 6 and 7, the method of winding the condenser will 'be seen. First a strip of aper is laid down, upon that a strip of tinoi or similar thin metallic conductor, upon this preferabl two strips of aper, upon this another, str1 condenser, such as I have shown, the ends of the paper strips are placed in a suitable slot, as is shown in Fig. 6, and the whole is tightly and closely wound into a c lindrical In case it is desired to ma e a flatshaped condenser a flat core is used, such asis shown in Fig. 7, and the strips wolmd upon it, as indicated in said figure It is believed that it is unnecessaryto describe this more fully, as so far the condenser is manufactured in the old and well-known manner. Before in which the condenser is wound, and

of tin-foil, .an upon the top another str1 of pa er.

the winding is completed terminalsare attached. These terminals are of copper, and as the subsequent treatment would eat away the copper coat the copper strips with lead or tin. I use a fine" insulating-paper carefully selected, so as to be as free from flaws as possible and not treated with araffin or any other insulating material efore or during the process of rolling. Between the layers of tin-foil, as has been said above, I prefer to use two layers of paper, or, if the condenser is to be used for very high po tentials, three.

When thus built up or rolled, I inclose the condenser in. a strong metal shell open at the ends, and the condenser is then thoroughly dried for a number of hours at a temperature of about 200 Farhenheit in order to expel all moisture. -I then immerse the condenser inclosed in'this metal shell in a bath of sulfur heated to a temperature of between 28(l and 310 Fahrenheit, at which temperature, as is well known, sulfur ecomes an extremely thin liquid and will enter the smallest crevices, particularly under pressure. I'therefore use an ordinary sulfur-pressure kettle, in which the melted sulfur may be maintained at a suitable pressure of, say, about fourteen pounds to the s uare inch.

The impregnating process may, owever, be carried out, though'more slowly, by simply immersing the condenser .in-molten sulfur for several hours in an open kettle. The condensers thus immersed are allowed to remain in the sulfur-bath until all traces of air-bubbles arising from the ends of the condenser cease. This process causes the sulfur to enter all the crevices, to thoroughly impregnate the condenser throughout, andjto form'very thin layers between the tin-foil -and the sheets of aper.

After being-removed the sulfur 0 course sets hard, after which the outer metal casing can be removed and the condenser placed in any kind of a shell or casing that may be desired. The casin 8 projects beyond the ends of the. strips 0 tin-foil and paper, and' the s ace thus left is filled in with a protecting-p ug 9, which may be formed by melting bitumen or some other insulating material into the ends in any yvell-known way.

It is obvious that a condenser made by the employment of my new and improved method might be formed otherwise than by the use of Ion strips woundupon a core without departm'g from the splnt of my 111 vention, a'nd'I donot, therefore, confine myself to a condenser soconstructed except as specifically claimed.

What I claim as'new, and desue to secure by LettersPatent, is Y 1. The process of lnsulatmg a condenser, which-consists-in immersingthe same in 'a bath offsulfur heated to the point at which the sulfur becomes a thin liquid, substantially as described. j

2. The process of insulating a condenser, which consists in first thoroughly drying the same and then immersing the same in a bath ofsulfur heated to the point at which the sulfur becomes a thin liquid, substantially as described.

3. The method of insulating a condenser composed of strips of conducting metal between and separated by strips of thin insulating material which consists in immersing the same in a bath of sulfur heated to the point at which the sulfur becomes a thin liquid, substantially as described.

4. The method of making an electrical condenser, which-consists in constructing the condenser of thin layers of conducting metal between and separated by layers of paper and then immersing the same in a bath of sulfur heated to the point at which the sulfur becomes a thin liquid, substantially as described.

5. The methodof making an electrical condense'n; which consists in Winding strips of metal foil between and separated by strips of paper tightly together, thoroughly drying the same, and then immersing the whole in a bath of sulfur/heated to the point at which the sulfur becomes a thin liquid, substan-. tially as described.

6.- The method of making an electrical condenser, which consists in rolling tightly upon a core two strips of metal foil between and separated by strips of paper, thoroughly drying the same, inclosing the same in a casing, and then immersing the whole in a bath of sulfur heated to the point at which it becomes athin liquid, until the air is all expelled from the same and the condenser is completely impregnated with the sulfur betweenthe layers" of the-l metal foil and the I paper, substantially as 7. The condenser formedby the herein-described method of winding upon a, central core strips of conducting metal between and separated by strips of-p aper and then immersing the same-in a bath of" sulfur heated to the point at which the sulfur-becomes a thin hquid, until the same is completely'im-. pregpaited with sulfur, substantially as descr1 e v 8. The electrical condenser formed by the herein-described .method'of rolling tightly upon a core two strips'of. metalfoil, between and separated by strips of paper, and'then immersing the same in a bath of sulfur'heated to a point .at which the sulfur becomesa thin liquid, until the air is eompletely expelled'and the condenser thoroughl impregnatedwith sulfur between the-.' ayers of and the paper, substantially .a'sde- I metal foil scribed. c

'9. An electrical condenser consisting of thin strips of conducting-material separated bystrips of paper and having,"between the strlps of paper and the conducting material,

denser in a bath of sulfur heated to a point at 10 which the sulfur becomes a thin lir uid until the air is completely expelled and t \e spaces between the paper and. the metal foil become filled with a layer of sulfur.

ROBERT C. LANIIUICR. In'presence'0f- EDWARD J. PIERCE, BERNARD G. HEYN. 

